we only spent a little over $5000 but we did not change layout, painted existing cabinet and kept tub. we rebuilt/tiled separate shower and around tub to ceiling and new tile on floor. new toilet, counters, sinks, fixtures.

The cost of a bath remodel depends on many factors and can vary greatly. Changing the layout, moving or adding plumbing electrical fixtures, using high end materials, gutting the bathroom down to the studs etc., all increase the price.

National average for a 3 piece hall bath approaches 20K. A 5 piece master is double that. Just a basic shower, waterproofed and tiled correctly, is 7-9K for a medium grade project. No natural stone, or car wash for people with complex sprays in that figure.

http://www.remodeling.hw.net/cost-vs-value/2018/

You need to understand about the Rules of Bath Design. http://starcraftcustombuilders.com/bath.design.rules.htm#.WticA69OnYX

The most important aspect of the proj by is hiring skilled trades. Especially for wet areas where waterproofing is required. There are a lot of hacks out there.

https://www.ceramictilefoundation.org/homeowners-guide-to-hiring-qualified-tile-installer

Thanks all! Sophie I appreciate the links. I have been reading up on bathroom design but the more info that better!

the big kicker is that in the unfinished space we're turning into a bathroom, we recently realized that a dormer must be created--the clear height below current support beams, per our specific city's code, is not currently high enough to just throw a ceiling up there. So that adds like $10-15K to the costs.

To add insult to injury we were *already* giving up a tiled shower!

We are going with a prefab unit for now and we may replace with tile at some point down the road. (The shower will not be very prominent in the space-- the shower doors don't face the entry.)

But we are including: nice freestanding air tub, separate toilet room (I'm so excited, I'm a germaphobe), authentic encaustic floor tile direct from Morocco, and a nice (IMO) vanity.

Altogether I think it's going to be just under $50K to create this ensuite bath for our upstairs-bedroom-turned-makeshift master (and, knowing how life goes, probably a bit more)-- which seems LUDICROUS for a very moderately sized (~8x11) bathroom without a tiled shower. (Also, because I tend to be frugal-ish, it just seems absurd/selfish in general. . .I could feed hungry people or give a kid a scholarship or something. Clearly, I am not anyone's 'high end client', ha).

But, I remind myself that we got a very good price on the home we've just bought, and we were definitely looking at homes that were $50-100K more as well. . .we just liked this one. And so instead of a more expensive home with upgrades that aren't exactly my taste, we get to create our own upgrades. And even if we spread out payments a bit it will be over a year or so, not over 30 years (=$$$ interest)

At least that's what I'm telling myself ;)